TRD Sportivo suspension and loaded weight

I've been following the Sportivo suspension kit discussions and would like to get it, but I want to know if the lower suspension will become a problem when the car is fully loaded (about 700 to 800 pounds of passengers and cargo). When I say problem I mean bottoming out the suspension on washboard type roads and also scraping the bottom when entering driveways, etc.

I suspect this sort of modification is really only meant for lightly loaded sporty type driving and even though I do my share of that, I seem to have my car loaded close to maximum more often than I would like. For instance, carpooling 4 teenage soccer players + gear to practice is about 730 pounds (over very twisty mountain type roads). Then there are family driving vacations, so say almost 800 pounds of parents, teenagers and as much stuff we can cram into the back.

Would the 06 stock suspension be a wiser choice? According to my local dealer, that would be struts only because the springs are the same as my 05.

Thanks for any suggestions

 

Thank you for your thoughts on this. I have enjoyed reading about your experiences with the Sportivo suspension and have learned a few things, too.

Responding to your points:
"Do you have any instances of ground clearance problems now? If there are any close calls where you have to pull into a driveway at a certain angle or you'll drag the front end (especially) it may be a problem once it's lowered."
That happens from time to time, mostly scraping the bottom of the front bumper cover, which doesn't especially worry me. The fairings under the car are scraped up, though, and that's more worrisome. I'll just have to forego off-road jaunts (which may be difficult since my daughter rides horses and that sometimes means driving on pretty dodgy "roads" to get to shows).

"I don't think there should be problems bottoming out the suspension with the TRD mod. The spring rate is higher (which means they're stiffer) so I'm guessing that a given amount of load will cause less deflection/suspension movement with the TRD suspension than with the stock, but ultimately it will bottom at about the same time (since both stock and TRD are rated for the same maximum load). In fact, it might bottom less because body movement is more under control."
That's an interesting point I never thought of, I'll put that in the Buy the Sportivo column.

"But it definitely will feel a bit more harsh than before."
Yes I'm sure it will and I'm not too keen on that, given the combination of poor road conditions around here (Marin county) and high tire pressures. So that is definitely a negative in my decision making.

"On the other hand, if you go and cut the springs, or use heat to make them shorter (or use spring compressors or other old tyme hotrod tricks), the spring rate (how 'stiff' they are) is still the same...so in that case you might be bottoming the suspension more often, since deflection with a given load will be the same as before but the springs won't be as long as they were originally."
Nope, not gonna mess with that.

"I don't think I'm explaining this well. Perhaps someone might come to our aid..."
Not at all, I think you explained it just fine. Thanks for the help.

"P.S. it's not advised to just replace the struts and shocks with TRD parts, and leave the springs stock. There's a warning about this, in English, in the otherwise primarlily Japanese language instructions."
I was planning on buying the whole TRD kit, OR, replacing the stock 05 struts with new 06 struts. I'm not sure the latter option would accomplish what I want, which is to improve the handling of the car. At least not enough to justify the cost of the mod.

Thanks again
Doug Wilkinson

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(DocVijay @ Oct 19 2006, 11:00 PM) [snapback]335381[/snapback]</div>

That sounds similar to what Pinto Girl pointed out in the previous post. That is what I wanted to hear. I'll probably go ahead and order the kit from Sigma.

Thanks for your reply
Doug Wilkinson

 

"Oh, you're in Marin County? I'm also in the Bay Area; in your neck o' the woods, actually."
I'm in Mill Valley, actually off Hwy1 in Tam Valley.

"I ordered my kit through Carson Toyota, but Edward at Sigma Automotive also imports them."
I would order from Carson to save on freight charges, but they said 10 to 12 weeks delivery, which is too long. I want it installed by Xmas b/c we're driving up to Vancouver B.C. and I want the car tuned up for the long drive. The handling on my car has degraded to the point where a long drive becomes very tiring b/c of the concentration required.
Incidentally, I also have the BT brace, but I haven't bottomed it out on anything. The BT brace is what kicked off this whole TRD quest. After installing it, I was hoping my Prius would handle like my wife's TT, but in fact it seemed worse than ever. It was then that I realized the handling had slowly degraded over the previous 2 years without being aware of it.

"Darn, now there may be at least two lowered Prii in the Bay Area...so much for my feeling of exclusivity!"
I'll keep my eye out for you then, but I'll tell you about exclusivity! Way back when dinosaurs ruled the earth (3 years ago) I got my first Prius and it was a damned exciting event just to see another one, if you can imagine. Now of course, we're so numerous we've nearly subverted the dominant Marin paradigm of latte sipping, cellphone yakking, pony-tailed, soccer mom/trophy wives driving monster SUV's.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(NuShrike @ Oct 20 2006, 03:33 PM) [snapback]335751[/snapback]</div>

I'm not sure about the local freight, but Carson is in LA area, so not far from the Bay area. Sigma ships from BOS, and it pains me to say it, but the freight from there is apparently $137. So I'm guessing it's cheaper to ship from Carson.
Sigma told me it takes about 3 weeks after they place their order with Japan for me to get the kit ("It takes them 1 week or a lil’ more (depending on TRD Japan’s stock list) to get the parts, then 1 week from JPN to BOS. Then another week or a lil’ longer from BOS to CA"). I'm hoping that is true. Their next order deadline is Oct. 29. So I should get it by Thanksgiving.